H5N1 Turkey: the meat may be safe once cooked ...

... but what about the blood that drips off the meat when unwrapped from its packaging? Or the blood left on the chopping board that then goes into the washing-up bowl? Or the blood wiped up by the kitchen cloth?

The H5N1 virus is apparently killed by exposure to 70 degrees C for just one second. That does make it unlikely that cooked meat would infect humans.

But to believe that blood of infected turkeys is OK to handle in a domestic kitchen? That seems like blind optimism.

Is silence on this a result of lack of foresight, or a wish to "maintain public confidence" whatever the actual risk?

Postscript - the Food Standards Agency website has a wonderful example of how to hide a scary message in soothing prose:

"Our long standing advice is that you should always wash your hands after handling raw poultry meat and eggs to avoid contamination from any bugs. In countries where avian flu is present in poultry, this will also help prevent contamination with the virus."

Thank heavens they aren't responsible for giving Road Safety advice. They'd come up with something like: "Our long standing advice is always to open your eyes before crossing a road. On roads with traffic, this will help prevent injury." Most people would expect to hear something more like: "Roads are dangerous, and you can get killed if you try to cross the road with your eyes closed".